


The Red Wire

by AmuletMisty (AmuletStormfall)



Series: CxB Week 2015 [2]
Category: Legion of Super Heroes (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon, Red String of Fate, mentions of Saturn Girl/Lightning Lad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 06:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16571840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmuletStormfall/pseuds/AmuletMisty
Summary: [Pre-canon] Brainy wakes up to find something peculiar attached to his finger...





	The Red Wire

**Author's Note:**

> Re-posted from deviantart. Originally published Sep 22, 2015.  
> This is cheesy but I still love the concept of the red-string of fate.

Brainy had tried _everything_ to get it off.

He used scissors and a laser cutter, and they didn’t put a scratch on it. He tried to yank it off by force and even biting it off but to no avail. He had half a mind to try and get Lightning Lad to zap it off but he couldn’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing Brainy had to ask for his help.

And what exactly was he trying to get off, you ask?

A wire.

A red wire, to be more specific.

While Brainy _was_ made up of inorganic material, this was not part of him. He had woken up today and found it wrapped around his index finger.

He tried to scan it to see what it was made of, but his sensors didn’t pick up a single thing. It was as if the wire wasn’t even there.

Feeling that his efforts were going to waste he stepped out of his room and made his way into the main hall. Perhaps he would consult Saturn Girl – she wouldn’t laugh at him.

He stopped short however when the room came into view.

There were more red wires now.

Saturn Girl, who was standing and talking to Lightning Lad had one attached to her – and he had one too. In front of the screen, Bouncing Boy was sitting down and by the looks of it both he, and Triplicate Girl who was looking over his shoulder, had them too. Phantom Girl was floating and reading a magazine, though Brainy could still see the wire trail down to the floor.

_What’s going on?_

None of them seemed to notice the red wires since they were all chatting happily away with not a care in the world.

Could this have been some sort of weapon from their enemies? Maybe it was a new sort of technology…and the enemies hadn’t realised that it wouldn’t go unnoticed like an android like himself. Looking closer at them, though, theirs looked more like string than wires like his. Did their enemies overlook this?

But in that case, they must have somehow infiltrated them at night to get this on everyone else…They might have been around right now, listening and watching in on their conversations. If that was the case, Brainy thought he shouldn’t inform the others just yet, not until he figured out what these things really were.

He returned to his room quickly, accessing COMPUTO.

Doing a search on red wires didn’t give him anything useful. Which was unsurprising given how many things involved wires.

Perhaps doing a search on strings instead would do the trick.

_Right there!_

He had found something under the heading Ancient Myths. _Is this some kind of ancient weapon? Let’s see…what it says is…Huh?_

It turned out there were many articles about an ancient myth about red strings. With Brainy’s high-speed processing he was able to read most of them in under five minutes. None of them mentioned any sort of threat at all.

In contrary, in ancient times, in many different parts of the continent that used to be known as Asia, people believed that those that were had a more spiritual sense could see the red strings, thought to connect soulmates together.

 _That’s a load of rubbish_ , Brainy thought. Firstly, he wasn’t spiritual in the least. Secondly, there was absolutely no proof that this was real.

He exited his room once more and found Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl walking by.

“What’s up, Brainy?” Lightning Lad asked. “You’re looking grouchier than usual.”

“I’m just stuck on something,” Brainy said, shortly. “Saturn Girl, would you mind reading my mind? Just tell me what I’m seeing.”

He knew Saturn Girl wasn’t always comfortable with reading Brainy, his mind being so different from regular humans, but this time she obliged.

“There’s nothing out of the ordinary. You’re just looking at my hands.” Saturn Girl dropped them from her head. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, never mind.”

So it seemed Saturn Girl couldn’t see them even through a telepathic link. That certainly was strange. _But that can’t really be it. I mean, your ‘soulmate’?_

“Alright, see you later then Brainy.” She gave him a small wave and followed Lightning Lad as they walked away from him.

_Wait a minute…_

If he was seeing things right, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl’s strings were one and the same.

Now, Brainy was oblivious about _some_ things but even he could tell that Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl _may_ have something between them. Perhaps not now but who knew about the future…

Maybe he _was_ really seeing these so-called Red Strings of Fate.

xxx

From then on, Brainy never tried to bring it up to the others. He didn’t see the point in notifying them about it. It wasn’t useful in missions and it wasn’t a threat. He wasn’t the type to butt into others’ relationships either, so he just kept quiet about it.

Out of curiousity, he had tried to follow his own wire. What would his soulmate be like? Though no matter where he went, the string never seemed to end. Perhaps they were in one of the other far out galaxies, one that Brainy might never visit.

That was okay.

He didn’t really need a soulmate, though he may have felt bad for the person on the other end if they were eager to meet him.

xxx

“Brainy, did you plug in the wrong coordinates?”

“I have a twelfth level intelligence, Bouncing Boy. I don’t make mistakes.”

“But I thought Superman lives in Metropolis…”

“Trust me, we’re here for a reason.”

He never really admitted it to the other Legionnaires, but he had become a sort of…fan of Superman. Ever since he visited the Superman museum, all Brainy had wanted to do was learn more and more about him. So _of course_ he knew that Superman had grown up in Smallville as Clark Kent. He thought perhaps getting a younger version of Superman would make it easier for them to convince him to come and eventually make it easier to introduce to the other Legionnaires.

He was about to start flying when he noticed that Bouncing Boy and Saturn Girl’s strings had turned almost transparent. He guessed it must have been because their soulmates hadn’t been born yet. Taking off and flying ahead of the two, Brainy checked his own wire.

Instead of turning translucent, his had turned into a string, more like the ones the others had had.

_That doesn’t make sense…_

Mind spinning as they landed in the middle of the carnival, he ignored Bouncing Boy’s noisy eating and his eyes shifted to the right and the left. While he was still looking out for Superman, he couldn’t help but see if any of the people around were the other side of his string. Maybe this whole time, he was meant to meet his fated one here…Did that mean he was going to stay in the past?

He snapped out of it as Saturn Girl started talking and they stopped. 

Turning on his visual scanners, he finally found Clark Kent.

His hero, right in front of him.

“That’s him!” He couldn’t keep out the joy in his voice, though the other two didn’t seem to take note of it.

Superman looked like he was struggling a bit with the Ferris wheel. Brainy felt frozen in place. He had planned how he wanted to introduce himself and wanted to be the first one to talk to him. It was like his mind short-circuited though, upon actually getting this close to him. Because of that, Bouncing Boy and Saturn Girl managed to help him out first. Brainy was smiling at the look of amazement Superman had.

He watched as Superman shook hands with Bouncing Boy. He had a red string attached to one of his fingers too. Well, even if Brainy wasn’t sure of his own, he was sure who was at the other end of Superman’s string. The history files said it all, of course.

A crowd had gathered due to their display, but Saturn Girl stepped in to handle it.

Brainy glanced at Superman again, wanting to see his expression of awe again. Instead, he found himself staring at Superman’s string.

_That’s not possible…_

He shifted his hand ever so slightly. At the same time, the string on the ground moved and so did the one on Superman’s finger.

Brainy spaced out again, caught up in his own thoughts. If the same string was connected to both of them, didn’t that make them soulmates? But the history files said that he was (well, would be) married to someone else. They couldn’t….they just couldn’t be soulmates…could they?

_Not that I mind if we were. Forget not minding…I would…I would…_

He had truly admired Superman for so long. It would make perfect sense to him.

Unable to stop himself, he flew up to Superman, positively beaming.

“Super-strength, just like in the history files.”

“Oh,” Superman looked down. Was he just being modest? Was he embarrassed? Brainy wanted to know. “Yeah…I was just –” Superman gaped at Brainy. “You’re…floating.”

Now he had Superman’s undivided attention.

“Flight ring. One of my inventions.”

It wasn’t like him, but he couldn’t help showing off. Maybe he was losing his mind, but he just wanted to look good in front of Superman.

“If you guys are done impressing each other,” Saturn Girl floated – crossed armed. She was certainly quick on the update, “I think we’re finished here.”

He could tell that she wasn’t even reading his mind.

Was Brainy really that easy to read?

He looked back at Superman as Saturn Girl floated away. He was surprised to find Superman staring back at him.

Brainy felt something, as if the electricity running through him was heating up.

_Oh…this is…_

“I don’t know who you are – or _what_ you are – but thanks.”

He reminded himself to breathe when he saw Superman’s smile. Then he reminded himself that he was a Coluan and didn’t _need_ to breathe.

“Whatever you do…please don’t tell anyone about this.”

Superman looked so worried about it and if Brainy had a beating heart he was sure it would drop.

Brainy smiled widely, trying to reassure him. “It’s okay…we know all about you.”

“Yeah!” Bouncing Boy added. “You’re Super-”

“Super with all your powers,” Brainy cut him off. What was he thinking? He couldn’t tell him about that just yet. It could affect history and the time-stream. They weren’t supposed to do anything that would change it too drastically.

_The time-stream…_

“I’m gonna go now…”

That was…probably for the better. Whatever the strings were indicating right now, history was set in stone. That history didn’t include one where he was with Superman. He couldn’t just go around and try and change that – the whole time-stream could be affected. He, of all people, knew it the best.

_I should know it the best. I understand what could happen. Reasoning should tell me to just let it go…_

But even as Saturn Girl tried to get Superman to stay, it was like Brainy’s mouth moved on its own.

“You’re the only one who can help us.”

_This was a bad idea in the first place…We shouldn’t have come to the past…What am I saying?_

Superman his back to Brainy.

“I…I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”

He speeded away in an instant, the red string extending too.

Superman was getting further and further away with from Brainy.

“Clark! Wait!”

And he was taking Brainy’s heart away with him.

xxx

It was by some miracle that they had managed to get Superman to come to the future with them. There, he proved to be more amazing than Brainy had ever dreamed. He helped them defeat the Fatal Fight, as Brainy knew he would.

There was something that happened during the fight, though – he didn’t know what the Emerald Empress did, but he couldn’t see the strings anymore.

“…I guess we’ll take you home now.”

Dejected, Brainy couldn’t even face Superman.

Forget history.

Forget the red strings, even.

All Brainy knew was that he wanted Clark to stay with him.

“Hold on a second. You said you can take me back to the same moment I left, right?”

_…Don’t tell me that he’s thinking of—_

Finally looking at Superman again, he nodded.

“You know, I didn’t really get a chance to see New Metropolis…”

_He is! He’s going to—_

Brainy couldn’t hide his smile this time either.

“Maybe I should stay a little while longer.”

As Brainy presented Superman with his ring and belt, he thought to himself:

_We can take fate into our own hands, and make our own history._

**Author's Note:**

> Original A/N:  
> Tadaa! Oh my God I was going to make this a drabble. Honestly I was. This is what happens when you give me Clark x Brainy, I'm just absolutely done. Also, writing from Brainy's perspective is the best thing ever. Feels overload right here. I also need to stop writing about the Red String of Fate - I enjoy that idea way too much. (Ahem, Avi-chan if you, for some reason, happen to read this I KNOW I KNOW. xD) 
> 
> Also I had Ep 1 open just to write the later half. Pausing the ep frame by frame just makes the CxB so much more obvious on Brainy's part xD Oh my bby Brainy he's too precious. So you know if you want to rewatch some scenes from ep 1 alongside this fic that's super welcomed~ 
> 
> The theme was 'Spiritual'. So the more spiritual you are the more likely you are to see the strings. But wait, you say, I never did explain how Brainy could see the strings in the first place. AHAH. I'll leave you to ponder on that for yourselves ;D 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it :D


End file.
